By MATT PIKE
Another game, another strong start by St. Joseph’s Noah Cameron and the Kansas City Royals backed up the rookie pitcher’s performance on the mound to even up their series with the Minnesota Twins, winning 2-0 at Target Field on Saturday evening.
The Royals got the one run they needed for Cameron in the third inning, with two outs, as Kyle Isbel singled and then scored on a double by Maikel Garcia. Bobby Witt Jr grounded out to end the inning, leaving Kansas City up 1-0 at the end of the inning, as Cameron went on in the bottom half to get an inning ending double play after surrendering two singles to start the frame.
Cameron pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and striking out four while walking two before being replaced by Angel Zerpa for the final out of the sixth inning. Hunter Harvey gave up two hits in the seventh, but escaped the inning unharmed, before handing the ball to Lucas Erceg for a scoreless, hitless eighth inning.
In the ninth inning, the Royals added one more run of insurance with a Jonathan India RBI single scoring pinch hitter Adam Frazier. Bringing no more runs across in the top half, Carlos Estévez was brought on in the bottom half of the inning and retired Minnesota 1-2-3, with two strikeouts, earning his 29th save in the shutout victory.
It was the sixth win of the season for Cameron as he moved above .500 on the season, improving to 6-5 on the mound. At the plate, Garcia was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Isbel was also 2-for-4 on the day with a run scored.
Kansas City and Minnesota wrap up their series tomorrow. Ryan Bergert (1-1, 2.83 ERA) makes his second start since being acquired by the Royals, while the Twins starter is currently listed as TBD. First pitch is at 12:05pm, pregame coverage will begin at 11:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
